Many power boats also have a dinghy which is utilized to provide transport when the boat is docked or anchored. A widely utilized type of dinghy employs an inflatable generally U-shaped pontoon which opens rearwardly and has a transom extending between the legs of the pontoon adjacent the rear free ends thereof. This transom is conventionally utilized for mounting a small outboard motor. The rear free ends of the inflatable pontoon have a generally conical configuration. In some instances a dinghy of this type is towed behind the boat, although this creates obvious disadvantages, particularly in bad weather or rough water. Also, this greater restricts the boat speed in order to avoid swamping the dinghy. In other instances the boat is provided with an attaching device which mounts on the deck of the boat adjacent the rear thereof, which attaching device is constructed similar to a boom and utilizes a pulley and cable arrangement for supporting the dinghy in a suspended condition adjacent the rear of the boat. Other arrangements support the dinghy, when being transported, in an upright position (that is, the dinghy is tilted sidewardly into a generally vertical orientation), and such storage requires that the motor be removed prior to storing of the dinghy. These arrangements, however, have proven less than desirable due to the complexities associated with the storing of the dinghy, and the complexities and expense of the attachment structure.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide and improved attaching structure for permitting securement of a dinghy, particularly attachment thereof to a boat, which attaching structure greatly simplifies the mounting of a dinghy thereon or removal of the dinghy therefrom, which permits the dinghy to be stored and transported on the boat in such manner that the dinghy is totally removed from the water, which does not require any disassembly of the dinghy such as removal of the motor, which is of a simple and compact arrangement so as to not interfere with overall desirable usage of the boat, which can be readily attached to a boat such as to the rear swim platform thereof, and which includes removable supports which can be readily detached and stored when use of the attachment device is not necessary.
In the improved arrangement of the present invention, a boat having a horizontally projecting rear platform (commonly referred to as a swim platform) is provided with dinghy support means mounted on the platform for removably supporting an inflatable dinghy adjacent the boat transom in generally raised relation above the water. In a preferred embodiment, the dinghy support means includes a horizontally and sidewardly spaced pair of elongate engaging members, each being fixedly detached adjacent the front end thereof to the swim platform. The elongate engaging members project rearwardly away from the platform and each terminates adjacent a rear end thereof in an enlarged ring for supportingly engaging the tapered rear end portion of the inflatable dinghy. Each ring has an opening therethrough for permitting insertion of one of the tapered rear end portions partially therethrough, whereby the support rings support the rearward end of the dinghy, with the dinghy being supported forwardly thereof by bearing against the transom of the boat.
Other objects and purposes of the invention will be apparent to persons familiar with structures of this general type upon reading the following specification and inspecting the accompanying drawings.